Other ABC News Sites

Dingoes in urgent need of protection

Dingoes are in need of protection to ensure they fulfil their important role in the ecosystem.

Dr Tom Newsome

Nature's top dogs have long been a feared and admired part of the ecosystem.

However, despite the problems they can cause on properties, it turns out dingoes are in urgent need of protection.

An international review published today in the journal 'Science' has found dingoes are among the world's seven key carnivores that are crucial to the environment, protecting crops, controlling diseases and helping with greenhouse gas levels.

Co-author Dr Mike Letnic from the University of New South Wales says scientists are only just starting to understand the complexity of the effects large predators have on ecosystems.

"In ecosystems where dingoes have been removed we get eruptions of foxes and kangaroos, and in northern Australia cats," he says.

"But what the work is also showing is that, if we look collectively across the world, is that it can be very surprising effects as well, so the removal of predators can result in outbreaks of disease in other organisms simply because there may be more hosts for disease."

The dingo hasn't always enjoyed a sterling reputation at home.

As this country's largest predator the dingo has been blamed for everything from stealing babies to hunting sheep to almost extinction in parts of Australia.

And they can cause huge problems for landholders.

Western Queensland grazier Will Roberts says the dingo's role might make sense in theory but out on properties it's a different story.

"From our point of view we're sort of inside the dingo barrier fence where we should have zero tolerance of wild dogs," he says.

"Certainly as a result of, sort of, them being out of the equation and as a result of all the good work that landholders have done with their property development and water infrastructure and things, we've certainly seen an explosion ... in kangaroo numbers.

"But that's something we can live with but, sort of, being inside the dingo barrier fence, we can't live with wild dogs if we're trying to run sheep."

He believes fencing is one way to keep both sides of the equation happy.

In western Queensland cluster fences are being built on properties to keep wild dogs and dingoes out of areas where sheep are running.

"Certainly those people that have put fences up, even if it is only an open ended fence, have certainly seen a difference in what's happening, sort of, within their properties," he says.

"What they've got to do with their national parks is they've got to actually fence them so that they don't then impact on landholders adjoining the national park."

Dr Letnic says finding ways for graziers and dingoes to co-exist is crucial.

"That might mean having areas where we leave them alone such as national parks, or finding ways to change our management so that we can co-exist so the large predators can do their work, which often is very good for the environment, but not affect livestock," he says.

"Across the continent what we find is that small animals, so animals like bandicoots and native rodents... are most likely to occur where there are dingoes and the reason for that we think is that dingoes really give foxes and cats a hard time."